Bluegills
have small mouths and oval-shaped, almost rounded, bodies. Body
coloration is highly variable with size, sex, spawning, water color,
bottom type, and amount of cover. In general, they are somewhat
lavender and bronze with about six dark bars on their sides. Males
tend to have a copper-colored bar over the top of the head behind the
eyes. The breast is silver to slightly blue most of the year, with
some yellow or orange during spawning season. Females are generally
lighter colored than males. Two distinctive characteristics are the
prominent black spot on the rear edge of the gill-cover and a black
spot at the base of the posterior portion of the dorsal fin.

The
Bluegill and other species of the sunfish family make up some of the
most common and fished for fish in the US. Although relatively small
(usually less than ten inches, rarely over a pound) bluegills and
other sunfish are easy and fun to catch. You will often find them in
large schools, and can catch dozens of them. They have an extremely
good flavor meat when cooked, and you can find them in just about any
pond, lake, or river in the US. They are one of my favorite fish for
their easiness to catch. Usually if I'm not catching much else I can
still catch sunfish. Larger ones of more than 6 inches can be fun on
ultralite tackle. Fishing for any species of the sunfish mentioned
above is pretty much the same as the techniques mentioned for
Bluegill below.

Habitat

Bluegills
prefer the quiet, weedy waters where they can hide and feed. They
inhabit lakes and ponds, slow-flowing rivers and streams with sand,
mud, or gravel bottoms, near aquatic vegetation.

Spawning
Habits

Bluegills
are well known for "bedding" in large groups, with their
circular beds touching one another. Bedding occurs in water two to
six feet deep over sand, shell or gravel, and often among plant roots
when the bottom is soft. Spawning occurs from April through October
with the peak in May and June, when water temperature rises to about
78-80 degrees. A female may lay 2,000 to 63,000 eggs, which hatch 30
to 35 hours after fertilization.

Feeding
Habits

Being
the smallest fish around, they have to be willing to eat pretty much
anything they can get!

Because
of its willingness to take a variety of natural baits (e.g.,
crickets, grass shrimp, worms) and artificial
lures (e.g., small spinners or popping
bugs) during the entire year, its gameness when hooked, and its
excellent food qualities, the bluegill is one of the easiest fish to
catch during the warm part of the year. Fish
have to eat in cold weather, but they don't eat as much and they
tend to go into deeper water where they are harder to find.During
warm weather you'll find them in fresh water between six inches and
six feet. Often they form large groups when they
"bed". If you see round sandy spots of something that
looks like moon craters then you might have found bluegill on the
bed. Bedding is referring to the time when the fish raise there
eggs in the sand. The bigger fish will be in the center of the patches.You
can't lose when you find that.

Eating
Quality

Excellent;
the flesh is white, flaky, firm and sweet. They are generally rolled
in cornmeal or dipped in pancake batter before frying. Many rank the
bluegill as the most delicious of all freshwater fish.

Fishing
for Bluegill

Bluegills
congregate in schools and tend to live close to structure such as
submerged trees, rocks or weedbeds, docks and even the shoreline.
Trophy fish are more solitary and usually stay deeper than their
smaller kin. Though bluegills may sometimes be caught through the ice
in late winter, they generally do not begin feeding actively until
water temperature warms to 50 degrees F. They feed on insects,
crustaceans and small fish, relying heavily on scent to help them
verify prey items. Especially in cool waters of early springtime, the
natural scent of live baits, or adding commercial scents to artificial
lures, may increase the number of bites.

As
water temperature approaches 60 degrees, bluegills begin feeding
heavily in preparation for the spring spawning period. They move into
shallow water where sunlight helps warm their environment and
jump-starts submerged vegetation growth and invertebrate activity. At
this time, bluegills can be caught with insect larvae such as wax
worms, on 1/64th oz. jigs, or on wet nymph imitations using
fly-fishing gear. Slow presentations are crucial, since the fish are
not yet active enough to chase fast-moving lures.

Spawning
occurs when water temperature reaches 69 degrees in water 2 to 3
feet deep. It is during spawn that all panfish are easiest to catch.
Fish return to the same spawning beds year after year, so discovering
a hotspot ensures fishing success every spring. Male fish sweep out
circular depressions in sandy bottoms, and then fertilize the eggs
when females visit the nests. Males guard the hatching fry for
several days, and then leave the young to fend for themselves.

During
the spawning period, adult males will attack any lure that comes
near the nest. Some anglers
use topwater popping bugs in shallow water to enjoy the action of
surfacing bluegills. Better yet is the use of small jigs or spinners
that work deeper through the nest zones. One tried-and-true method
uses live crickets fished under a bobber. However one goes about it,
the key is using baits or lures small enough for the tiny mouths of
sunfish. When seeking trophy bluegills, minnows or minnow-imitation
lures may be most productive.

Equipment
need not be expensive. A simple cane pole with attached line has
accounted for untold numbers of panfish. Spinning gear, open- or
closed-faced, is adequate. Ultralight gear brings out the best
battles with sunfish, and therefore is more fun to fish with, yet
fly-fishing gear is also ideal. Large bluegills tend to be line-shy,
so it's best to use 4-pound-test line (or lighter) that is invisible
in the water. When bobbers are used, small pencil models will
outperform the plastic ball-shaped bobbers, though both will get the
job done. Generally, hooks should be in the range of size 6 to size
10 for best success. Decent panfishing gear can usually be purchased
at discount stores for about $25

If you havie
any hints, suggestions, techniques or anything that you would like to share
or
have me put onto this web page,please feel
free to Email
me

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